Steven Miles, what's so funny? Queensland Premier can't stop giggling at reporter's very serious question about youth crime after grandmother Vyleen White's death in shopping center

Queensland's premier is under fire after he appeared to laugh when a reporter asked him what his government was doing about youth crime in his state.

Steven Miles responded during a speech at the Queensland Media Club on Tuesday.

The state chief minister had addressed the shortage of affordable housing while answering questions from reporters asking about the youth crime crisis.

Vyleen White became the latest victim after she was allegedly stabbed in front of her granddaughter at a Redbank Plains shopping center on Saturday.

Adam Walters, bureau chief for Sky News in Brisbane, asked the Prime Minister why he had not addressed the subject in his speech, to which he replied: “It was a speech on housing.”

But Mr Walters insisted: 'The absence of any reference to youth crime in your speech would have been noticed by the people of those communities.'

“Come on,” Mr. Miles said, laughing at the reporter for continuing with the question that had nothing to do with the housing crisis forum.

His response struck a chord with ordinary Australians, with many labeling the response as 'shameless' and 'pathetic'.

Mr Miles was forced to publicly address the backlash by posting an update on X, formerly Twitter, strongly denying that he was laughing at the serious subject.

“No one in Queensland, including myself, is laughing at this tragedy, and it is disrespectful for any news source to suggest that,” he wrote.

'A family and a community are grieving. Sensational headlines and misrepresentations have no role to play in Queensland this week.”

National Senator Matt Canavan described the Prime Minister's response as “weird and bizarre behaviour”.

Senator Canavan, from Rockhampton in Queensland, said: “He needs to explain himself, especially as he was part of a government that weakened juvenile justice laws.”

“In 2019, they made it clear that judges only had to deny bail as a last resort, and that far too many violent criminals have been on the streets when they shouldn't be.”

“I don't know the circumstances of this specific case, but doesn't this show that the government is not taking the crime problem seriously?” he said.

“They only apply Band-Aids when there's a bit of public outcry and they'll probably get a backlash because there's going to be an outcry about that.”

“But it seems like it's a joke for them and not good enough for the people of Queensland.”

It has been revealed that Ms Whyte's alleged teenage killer, 70, was on bail for theft.

Grandmother Vyleen Whyte, 70, was reportedly stabbed at Redbank Plains shopping centre

The 16-year-old cannot be named for legal reasons.

Australian police late last year opposed bail for the suspect who allegedly stabbed Ms Whyte to steal her 2009 Hyundai Getz, according to Australian police.

He has been charged with three counts of theft and one count of unlawful use of her vehicle.

Four other boys, aged 15 and 16, who were allegedly with him, have been charged with unlawful use of a motor vehicle.

The Labor government has introduced two reforms to youth bail laws following tragedies involving Kate Leadbetter and Matt Field in 2021 and Emma Lovell in 2022.

The presumption of bail has been lifted for serious repeat offenders and breaching bail penalties, including a prison sentence of up to two years, have been reintroduced.

Mr Miles said on Tuesday: “We are putting more police in the community and the laws we have are the laws the police helped us create,” he said.

'If we have to do more, we will do more. But no one can seriously stand up and say he could have prevented this.”